Jefferson County (Colorado).

Sheriffs Office
Columbine High School Shootings Investigation
Records, April 20, 1999
Series #121

Processed by: Ronda Frazier

Date Completed: July, 2013

Jefferson County Records Management & Archives

3500 Illinois St., Suite 2350
Golden, CO 80401
(303) 271-8448
E-mail: archivist@Jeffco.us
Website: www.jeffco.us/archives

Jefferson County (Colorado). Sheriffs Office. Columbine High School Shootings Investigation
Records. Series #121

Overview of Records
Creator:

Jefferson County Sheriffs Office

Title:

Columbine High School Shootings Investigation Records

Dates:

April 20, 1999

Series Number:

121

Quantity:

2 boxes (One document box, one slim document box), .70 cubic ft.

Arrangement:

Numerical as numbered by the Sheriffs Records Unit

Abstract:

Set of 23 CD/DVDs containing digitized copies of all investigative files,

documents, recordings, images, and drawings released to the public in
connection with the investigation of the shootings at Columbine High
School on April 20, 1999.

Administrative Information
Access Restrictions:

Laptop needed to view. Copies of CDs may be purchased directly from the
Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Records Unit. Copies of Columbine
records released from The Jefferson County Coroners Office, El Paso
County Sheriffs Office, and Jefferson County District Attorneys Office
may be obtained directly from those agencies.

Use Restrictions:

Records shall not be used for the direct solicitation of business for
pecuniary gain (monetary gain).

Preferred Citation:

Item Description; Box number, Folder number; Jefferson County Sheriffs

Office, Columbine High School Shootings Investigation Records, April 20,
1999; Series #121; Jefferson County Records Management & Archives,
Golden, Colorado.

Provenance:

The Jefferson County Sheriffs Office provided a copy of its Final Report
on CD to the Archives when it was released in 2000, and a set of the JCSO
911 and Dispatch Audio CDs was given in 2004. A complete set of all
CDs was provided to the Archives in July, 2011. Paper documents were
converted to CD by the Sheriffs Office Records Unit to provide a userfriendly format.

Related Records:

Media Articles, 1999-2000

Ephemera Recovery Photographs, 1999, Series 131
2

Jefferson County (Colorado). Sheriffs Office. Columbine High School Shootings Investigation
Records. Series #121

History Note
On a sunny spring day in April 1999, a suburban high school in Jefferson County, Colorado, found
itself under attack by two of its own. In less than fifteen minutes of the first-lunch period on that
Tuesday, two student gunmen killed 13 and wounded 21 before they turned the guns on themselves.
Columbine High School was one of three in the unincorporated southeast portion of Jefferson
County. The county itself lies on the west side of the Denver metropolitan area and is the most
populated county in the state. The large unincorporated region along the countys southern plains
and foothills had a population of nearly 100,000 residents - 1,945 of who attended Columbine High
School.
The two student gunmen were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Their plans for attacking the school,
recovered by investigators after the tragedy had taken place, evolved over one years time. In those
plans, Klebold and Harris outlined a mission to kill as many students and faculty as possible. They
would set off destructive bombs inside the school and then shoot any survivors trying to run out.
Bombs inside their cars would explode later, killing law enforcement, fire or medical personnel
responding to the scene.
When many of the Columbine students heard what sounded like pop guns coming from outside the
cafeteria during the first lunch period, they thought that senior prank day had come. School-wide
pranks initiated by graduating seniors were a tradition throughout the United States, and up to that
point Columbines seniors, ready to graduate in just four weeks, had not participated in any such
activity. It seemed right to students who heard the first few shots that, as it was toward the end of
the school year, prank day was finally upon them.
But it wasnt a prank. Not when two hate-filled students, heavily armed with firearms and bombs,
chose April 20, 1999, as the day to attack and kill students and faculty at their school.
(History note taken from the Foreword to the Sheriffs Office Final Report.)

Scope and Content Note

Collection contains a set of 23 CD and DVDs containing digitized copies of all investigative files,
documents, reports, audio and video recordings, images, and drawings released to the public in
connection with the investigation of the shootings at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

Jefferson County (Colorado). Sheriffs Office. Columbine High School Shootings Investigation
Records. Series #121

Container List
1.

Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Final Report, Released May 15, 2000
(3 copies)
Findings of the 10-month investigation into the shootings:
Timelines
Crime scene diagrams
Detailed information from first responders, support response, the
investigation, larger community response, explosive response,
management structure
Photographs
General information about law enforcement, fire, and EMS
involved
Audio of radio traffic and 911 calls
Video of KUSA-TV Ch 9 coverage, KMGH-TV Ch 7 President
Clinton address, fire alarm activation, SWAT tour, and
cafeteria surveillance tapes.

Box

Folder

2. KCNC Ch 4 Helicopter Footage/Littleton Fire Department Training

Video, Released April 26, 2000
Raw aerial footage (1:55)
Video of outside and inside of school, video inside library (14 min)
(May contain sensitive images)

3. Cafeteria Surveillance Video, Released June 7, 2000

Inside Cafeteria before, during and after shootings
(May contain sensitive images)
Security Tape 1, 10:34 am to 12:39 pm
Security Tape 2, 12:39 pm to 1:11 pm

4. Rampart Range Video, Released October 21, 2003

Footage of Klebold, Harris, & two others shooting at bowling pins and
trees (17:20) (Footage contains graphic language)

5. Crowd Footage, Released February 26, 2004

Approximately 38 minutes of crowd footage filmed by JCSO Crime
Lab outside Columbine High School after 1:00 pm on April 20, 1999,
shows students being interviewed, etc. (May contain sensitive images)

6. Harris and Klebold Video Clips, Released February 26, 2004

Miscellaneous footage of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold retrieved from
school or given to JCSO by citizens, dubbed onto master DVD
(1:38:46 total length)

Jefferson County (Colorado). Sheriffs Office. Columbine High School Shootings Investigation
Records. Series #121

Container List

Box

7. Jefferson County 911 and Dispatch Audio (Set of 2 disks),

Released August 7, 2000 (2 copies)
See also #10 911 dispatch tape contains missed side of tape from this
release.

Folder
7

8. Not yet converted to digital

9. Investigative Files Books 1-12 and CBI Lab Report, (Includes #15)
(Released November 21, 2000)
11,000 pages of investigative files, main release of reports on
interviews and witness statements of victims, students, and teachers
Book 1: Library Injured, A-Z
Other Injured, A-Z
Library Witnesses
Outside Witnesses, A-L
Book 2:

Outside Witnesses, M-Z

Math Witnesses, A-Z
Science Witnesses, A-K

Book 3:

Science Witnesses, L-Z

Cafeteria Witnesses, A-F

Book 4:

Cafeteria Witnesses, G-M

Book 5:

Cafeteria Witnesses, N-Z

Book 6:

Choir Witnesses
Class Area Witnesses, A-Z

Book 7:

Hallway Office Witnesses

Student/Faculty Not on Location, A-J

Book 8:

Student/Faculty Not on Location, K-Z

Non Columbine Witnesses

Book 9:

Bomb
First Responders
First Aid
Weapons
SWAT

Book 10: Agency Reports, A-Z

Agency Reports, Denver
5

Jefferson County (Colorado). Sheriffs Office. Columbine High School Shootings Investigation
Records. Series #121

Container List
Book 11: Agency Reports, JCSO
Harris, Vol. I & Vol. II
Klebold

Box

Folder

1
(cont.)

8 (cont.)

Book 12: Associates

10. Additional Investigative Files, Released August 8, 2001
Additional ancillary reports (tips, internet, threats, connected reports)
Audio cassette of Jefferson County 911 dispatch tape
(missed side of tape from previous release)
Two large crime scene diagrams

11. Printout of Evidence Log, Released April 2001

200 pages, duplicated in Evidence Books #12

10

12. Evidence Books, Released May 11, 2001

Contains two volumes of evidence recovery logs

11

13. Crime Scene Processing Team Reports & Sketches,

Released June 19, 2001
Lab graphic books

12

14. FBI Crime Scene Processing Team Reports and Sketches,

Released September 5, 2001
FBI Evidence Response Team, April 20-23, 1999

13

15. Included in #9
16. CBI Laboratory Report, Released February 6, 2002
Ballistics, Firearms Section Report (58 pages)
17. Miscellaneous Columbine Documents, Released April 10, 2001
Draft Search Affidavit
Audio CD of the Shoot Team Interviews
Written transcript of Interview with Columbine High School
Community Resource Officer, Neil Gardner
Executive Summary of the Library Investigative Team
18. Warrants Books, Released June 9, 2003

14

Jefferson County (Colorado). Sheriffs Office. Columbine High School Shootings Investigation
Records. Series #121

Container List

Box

19. Tracking Sheets, Investigative Index, Other Columbine Documents,

Released January 8, 2003
Patty Nielson Call
911 Log
Miscellaneous documents from evidence vault
Student/Staff Location List
Index
Supplemental Reports
Critical Witness Summaries
Lead Tracking Sheets

2
(cont.)

Folder
3

20. Columbine Documents with Slight Differences from Previously

Released Originals or Documents Inadvertently Unreleased,
Released 2003

21. FBI Report, Interviews, Related Columbine Documents,

Released May 22, 2001

22. Additional Pages, Harris Web Page, Released October 30, 2003
1997 Documents
1998 Documents

23. Documents Seized from Harris and Klebold Residences and Vehicles,
Released July 6, 2006
Items taken from Harris residence
Items taken from Klebold residence
Items taken from Klebold vehicle
Items recovered from Harris computer
Items recovered from Klebold school server files
Items recovered from Harris school server files
Items recovered from Harris computer
Items recovered from Harris AOL account